Finding My Own Bravado
by MonkeyLovr
Summary: "It was funny; with one wipe, the eye shadow that she'd worked so hard to perfect was gone. Never to come back. Destroyed. And just the same way, with one physical failure, all they'd worked so hard to build was just as easily destroyed. " When what was supposed to be the best day of her life, turns into the worst, will Aria be able to find the strength to move on and rebuild?


**A/N: So here it is! Just a little something that came to me while I was sleeping. Hope you guys enjoy it, It is quite long! Thx to my two musketeers for helping me with this!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own PLL.**

Aria pushed open the door to her small apartment and trudged inside. Knowing her mother was following behind, she didn't bother to close the door. Ella placed her hand on Aria's shoulder, causing her to immediately flinch at the touch.

"You should get some rest, sweetie. You've dealt with a lot already today. If you need me, I'll be in the guest room. It's been a-" She swallowed. "A long day." She gently kissed Aria on the forehead, giving her one last long look, before heading off in the direction of the guest room.

Aria sat there staring off into space. Words couldn't seem to escape her mouth. Not even a simple nod. She was too numb to feel anything, to break out of her little trance.

After several minutes, she mustered up a bit of energy to stand up. Walking into the bedroom, she paused for a moment as she stared at herself in the floor length mirror.

She looked horrible. Her face tear-stained from nonstop crying, mascara streaming down her cheeks, and that perfect updo she had loved so much, was drooping down from her head. Looking in the mirror she hardly recognized that hollow shell of a girl who stared back at her with a vacant, yet delirious expression.

Aria was oddly fascinated with the remnants of her eye makeup. The creamy coral colors, so carefully selected by Hanna to perfectly match her eyes, the shades that they'd agonized over for weeks. Multiple trips to various makeup stores, comparing colors, debating between matte or sparkly. Mixing colors with as much concentration as an artist agonizing over swatches of paint on a canvas.

The combination they'd worked so hard to create? It was gone. Some remained on her face, smeared across her cheeks. Other bits and pieces sat atop Kleenexes, destined for nothing more than the chrome trash can in her bathroom.

It was funny; with one wipe, the eye shadow that she'd worked so hard to perfect was gone. Never to come back. Destroyed. And just the same way, with one physical failure, all they'd worked so hard to build was just as easily destroyed.

_No_, it wasn't just funny. It was downright hilarious. And then she found herself laughing at the irony of it, tears streaming down her face for an entirely different reason than before. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't do more than clutch her stomach and laugh.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Her heart squeezed, or that is whatever was left of her heart, when her tired and aching eyes traveled further down. Choking back a sob, she stared at the broken bride in front of her. Tears slowly fell from her eyes as she took in every inch of her distraught appearance.

From her ruined makeup and hair, to her wedding dress. That dress she'd spent hours looking for and had gotten months ago, in anticipation for the big day. It was a truly elaborate dress; one that she imagined she would one day look back on and recall a perfect memory. She was right, it did hold memories, but not the kind she had expected. That dress, it meant nothing now. It was soiled with the invisible stains of the painful memories she'd never be able to wash away.

Why had Ezra done this to her? Why was the world always against her. Life wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. He'd promised to love her for eternity, to always be there for her. He lied.

She felt as if the entire world was taunting her, punishing her for no apparent reason. Of all the days for things to go wrong, of all the people, it was today and it was to her. Her dream wedding had become her worst nightmare, one that she would never be able to wake up and escape from. Nothing could reassemble the shattered pieces of her heart. Nothing could be done to undo what had happened.

Not even twenty four hours ago was she a beautiful wife-to-be. Anxiously waiting to start a new chapter in her life with the one person she'd ever dreamed to be her husband. And now, she was slowly crumbling to pieces realizing she would never get to experience that incredibly desired life with him.

"Why, Ezra?" She silently asked.

_20 hours earlier_

"_Wakey, wakey." Hanna squealed as she jumped on the hotel bed._

"_Mm." Aria groaned._

_Hanna shook her slightly, before throwing a pillow across the room to where Emily and Spencer slept._

_It hit both of them with force, which brought out a string of curse words from Spencer._

"_Wake up!" Hanna repeated, adamantly._

_Aria groaned again, reluctantly sitting up. "How can you be so awake?" Aria asked._

"_Come on, it's not that early. It's eight." Hanna argued._ "_Now go hop in the shower while I wake these two up."_

_Aria rolled her eyes as she made her way to the large bathroom. As she let the warm water run down her body, realization suddenly hit her. Today was her wedding day. She was getting married. In just a few hours, she'd no longer be Aria Montgomery. Her heart fluttered with all sorts of emotions. She was so incredibly happy, yet she was a jumble of nerves. She wasn't sure why. She'd been with Ezra for six years, living with him for three. But now, she would legally be his wife. Their entire relationship would be truly solidified. She'd be what she desired the first moment she met him. Mrs. Fitz._

_Aria couldn't help but grin with glee as she stepped out of the shower. It was all becoming so real. If she was being honest, she couldn't wait to see herself in that wedding gown she'd fallen in love with just months ago. Couldn't wait to see herself all dressed up and ready to walk down the aisle. Ever since she was little, she'd dreamed of having the perfect wedding. Today, her dream was finally becoming true. She was marrying her prince charming._

A knock on the door startled her. When she didn't respond to it, the door slowly opened.

"Aria," Ella spoke gently. "I just wanted to check up on you. You feeling any better?" She shook her head at that last comment. "No, of course you're not. I'm sorry that was the wrong thing to say." She sighed as she noticed the lack of response in Aria's face.

"Sweetie, I just want you to know, I'm here for you. I will always be here for you."

Tears clouded her eyes, as Aria continued to look at herself in the mirror.

"Honey, _please_ try to get some rest. Change into some comfortable clothes, and try to sleep. It's almost four in the morning."

Aria heard her mother, yet she couldn't respond. If she tried to speak, she'd break down. All of those emotions bottled up inside would burst out of her. She had finally gotten her tears to stop. She didn't want to cry in front of her mother. Not anymore.

Ella sighed in defeat, and walked over to Aria.

"I-I know this hurts, honey. I wish I could understand all that's running through your mind right now, but I can't. I wish I knew what could make this pain disappear, but I can't do that either. I don't know what to do or say that would help. But, what I can do, is be here for you. So if you need me at anytime, just let me know. I love you, Aria. And you have no idea how sorry I am that you had to go through this."

The tears pushing up against her raw, swollen eyelids finally fell free once more as Ella placed a loving kiss on her cheek.

"Goodnight, sweetie."

She stayed still, only faintly hearing her bedroom door shut behind her.

"_Hey, look who's finally awake." Aria giggled, as she stepped out of the bathroom._

"_Ugh. I need some coffee." Spencer whined._

"_Me too." Emily added._

"_Enough of the whining." Hanna ordered. "Now one of you better go shower. Aria and I will go get us some breakfast." She turned to Aria. " What time is your mom coming?"_

"_Ten, and so is Mrs. Fitzgerald. Can't wait to see how that goes." Aria joked._

_When they turned, Spencer and Emily were both still on the bed._

"_Shower. Now." Hanna ordered._

"_Fine." Spencer groaned._

_It was little past nine, when all four girls were showered, and eating breakfast on the hotel island._

"_We need to start dolling you up soon." Hanna said as she chewed._

_Aria nodded. Just as she was finishing the last bite of her bagel, her phone beeped._

_**Ezra: Anyway you can sneak out? I'm dying for a kiss.**_

_Aria smiled, as she quickly typed a response._

_**Aria: Of course. Meet you in the lobby in five? Oh, and I'm dying for a kiss too.**_

_Getting up from the bar stool, she slipped on her flip flops as she shoved her phone in her sweats pocket._

"_And where do you think you're going?" Hanna asked._

"_Just taking a walk."_

"_She's gonna go see Ezra." Spencer smirked._

"_Just make whatever it is you're gonna do quick. I want you back here in no more than thirty minutes."_

"_Yes, Mom." Aria rolled her eyes._

_Five minutes later, she was standing anxiously in the lobby. Seconds later, she felt two strong arms wrap around her. He kissed her neck gently, before interlocking their hands._

"_What do you say to a walk around Rosewood one last time?" He suggested._

_Aria nodded, before they both walked out of the hotel._

"_Can you believe that in less than four hours, I'll be Mrs. Fitz." Aria whispered, as she leaned on his shoulder._

_He lent down, kissing her softly._

"_I've wanted you to become that since that very first day I met you."_

"_Well, It's finally happening." Aria smiled. "After everything we went through, here we are. I love you so much. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Nothing will ever tear us apart."_

_He rested his arms on her waist, as she stepped on her tip toes to kiss him. A few seconds into their passionate kiss, Ezra pulled away, groaning and clutching his hand to his chest._

"_Ezra!" Aria panicked. "Are you okay?"_

"_Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just felt a bit of heartburn." He rubbed his chest._

"_You sure?"_

"_Yeah." He smiled. "We should probably head back now."_

_Aria nodded, still unconvinced._

"_Aria. I'm fine." He assured, pecking her lips. "Come on."_

He'd lied to her. Lied right to her face. He'd promised he'd never lie to her again, never hurt her again. Yet he'd still done it.

He should've known how much this would hurt her. He should've trusted her. If he'd told her, they would have figured something out before his lie had come back and bit him. Maybe they would have been able to avoid this whole mess.

But there was no going back. This time, the damage was permanent. The pain and agony she was feeling would never go away. Her mother was wrong; she wasn't yet through dealing with this. This was something she would have to deal with for the rest of her life. It wasn't like the last time. This time, she wasn't just broken, she was shattered into billions of pieces. Her heart would never be repaired.

Finally, being able to step away from the mirror, she headed into the bathroom. She pulled out a few washcloths, before washing her face. She scrubbed furiously at every part of her face, desperately wanting to get rid of the memories the makeup she wore brought. With one final rinse, she dried her face, patting it gently.

Once she was completely makeup free, she stared at the stranger in front of her.

She looked so vulnerable, so broken, so _dead_. It was a completely different person staring back at her now than it was that morning. That girl she saw in the morning was filled with life, with happiness, with hope. This one held pain and sorrow in her eyes.

Tugging on her hair, she let her ruined hair fall down her back in messy curls. She combed out the tangles before pulling it up into a bun.

She was almost done erasing the plaguing memories from her body. Her makeup was scrubbed away, parts of her pain washed down the drain. Her hair was combed out and pulled back, all semblance of its former wedding glory gone. All that was left was the lace gown she wore.

She blinked away some stubborn tears as she struggled to take off the gown. It was supposed to be the groom that's supposed to remove the wedding dress the night of their wedding. Not the wife herself. It was his lips she needed to feel against her neck and shoulders, not the cold air. It was his soothing voice she needed to hear, murmuring sweet nothings into her ear, not the painful silence that filled the room. It was supposed to be _him_ with her tonight.

She wasn't supposed to be feeling so abandoned, so alone.

"_Hanna, how many more times do you plan to redo her eyes?" Spencer asked annoyed._

"_Yeah, I loved it the first time." Aria assured._

"_I didn't." She argued. "Aria, you have to look perfect. Breathtaking. You have to look so beautiful you'll make Ezra's heart stop."_

"_As much as you want to perfect her, I'm pretty sure at the end of the night it won't matter. All Ezra will be thinking about is the amazing sex that follows a wedding."_

_Aria blushed as her friends giggled._

"_Ok, enough." Hanna instructed. "Stop distracting me."_

_After another hour of makeup and another for hair, Aria was finally done._

"_Ok. She's all ready now." Hanna smiled, clearly happy with her results. "Ready?"_

_She spun her around, and Aria watched as Spencer and Emily's jaw dropped._

"_Damn, Aria."_

"_Oh, honey." Ella smiled, tears brimming her eyes._

_Aria's heart tingled with excitement, anxiously wanting to look at herself._

"_Can I see?"_

"_Not until you're in that dress."_

_Aria sighed as she rolled her eyes._

"_Just let us change into our dresses, and we'll help you get dressed."_

_Aria nodded as she sat on the bed, waiting for her friends to get dressed. Trying not to pick at her nails, since they were just manicured, she tapped anxiously on her thigh. Twenty minutes later, all three of her friends, were dressed and ready._

"_Wow. You guys look amazing." Aria smiled._

"_Not nearly as amazing as you'll look." Emily assured._

"_Come on, let's get that dress on."_

_Another twenty minutes later, Aria stood faced away from the floor length mirror the hotel offered. She couldn't help but smile as her friends eyes brimmed with tears. Her heart fluttered, when she noticed Ella, and even Dianne, wiping away a few tears of their own._

"_Wow." Was all her friends could say._

"_You're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen." Ella cried._

"_Ready to look at yourself, Miss Aria?"_

_Aria nodded nervously. Hanna slowly turned her towards the mirror, and Aria couldn't hold back the small gasp that escaped her lips._

How was it possible that so much could happen in less than 24 hours? That so much happiness could fill her heart and then be sucked right out of her?

With a lot of struggle, she managed to strip the gown off completely. She turned towards her mirror once again and just stared. For a second, she could see Ezra standing behind her. Hands resting on her hips, his chin on her shoulder. But when she blinked, he disappeared. Confirming that all this, this horrible nightmare, was real.

The white lace lingerie she wore was her surprise for Ezra, knowing how much he loved white on her.

White was only worn on special occasions, anniversaries, celebrations, and even the first night they moved in together. This special set she wore was supposed to be even more special, as it was supposed to be their wedding night.

He was supposed to be staring at her, looking at her with eyes lustful eyes, as he finished taking off her dress. She wanted to hear a simple 'Wow' or a loving 'You're beautiful.' come from his lips as he kissed her tenderly. She wanted him to make love to her, slow and passionate, just like it's meant to be on somebody's wedding night.

She didn't want _this_. A night full of loneliness and pain. She never wanted any of this.

_Aria paced around nervously outside the church, desperately trying to calm down. The butterflies didn't seem to stop swarming inside of her, and her heart beat so loudly, she could literally hear it pounding against her ribcage._

"_Oh god." She whispered, as she fanned herself. _

"_Hey, everything will be okay." Emily assured._

"_The day you've always dreamed of is finally here, Aria." Spencer smiled._

"_And no one will make a better husband than Mr. Fitz."_

_Aria shot them a smile as she nodded. But nothing could alleviate this apprehension. At the same time, it was a good feeling, and she couldn't wait for the wedding to commence. Soon, she felt a familiar touch on her shoulder. She smiled as she turned and looked at Byron, staring at her with tearful eyes._

"_You look so beautiful, Aria." He confessed. "I can't believe my baby girl is getting married."_

_A single tear rolled down his cheek. Aria was quick to reach up and gently wipe it away with her thumb. She smiled at her father, before stretching up and kissing his cheek tenderly._

"_Aww, don't cry. If you start crying, I will start crying too." She smiled. "I love you, Daddy."_

"_I love you, too, honey. So much. You'll always that little girl I used to chase around the house; the little girl who I would have tea parties with."_

_Aria giggled at that memory. _

"_I'm so proud of the woman you've become. You really have grown up so much. I can't believe this is my baby girl's big day. " He kissed her forehead, before wiping a tear that'd managed to escape Aria's eye._

"_Ready?" He asked, holding his arm out._

_Aria closed her eyes and nodded, as she laced her arm with his. She inhaled deeply, the scent of __roses_ _filling her nostrils. She wanted to remember this moment, embed it into her memory forever. _

"_Ready."_

_The music soon started, and they walked in. She looked around, smiling at all her guests. She couldn't believe it. She was merely a few feet away from the altar, minutes away from saying the words she'd rehearsed numerously since the day Ezra proposed, the simple 'I do'._

_Aria's gaze settled on Ezra. She drank in his dapper appearance, so captivating in his wedding tux. His azul eyes sparkled with delight. The slight upcurve of his lips revived the butterflies in her stomach. As she slowly headed towards the altar, her gaze fixated solely on him, everyone and the background around her faded away. All she could see was this gorgeous man, and all she could feel was excitement to finally marry him._

_Finally reaching Ezra, she couldn't help the smile from spreading on her face. Ezra looked so handsome, the sight of him took her breath away. Byron gave her one last kiss, and Ezra a hug, before the ceremony started._

"_You look beautiful." Ezra whispered._

_Aria smiled at him, bringing his hand up to her lips, and giving it a kiss._

"_Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of God, and in the face of this company, to join together this Man and this Woman in holy Matrimony-" He started._

_Aria and Ezra never let go of one another's hand as the whole ceremony went on. Aria was so nervous for the vows. The way she felt about Ezra, it couldn't be put into words. Especially not a short amount of them. She was a writer, but when it came to describing the way Ezra made her feel, she went numb. He had this power over her that made it impossible to think straight._

"_And now for the vows."_

_Aria was first, stuttering and with her heart nearly popping out her chest, she somehow managed to express her feelings in words._

_Next, came Ezra. He cleared his throat before starting._

"_Aria, ever since the day I saw you, sitting just a few feet away from me, I knew that somehow, I had to make you mine. I know it may sound cheesy, but when your eyes met mine, I got lost in them. In that moment, I saw us in them. I saw us on our first date, I saw our first fight, our first make-up, I saw everything in them. I even saw us here today, on our wedding day. I saw us, together and spending our futures together." The tears became present in both their eyes. "And I s-saw us rocking our first child to sleep together, I saw us growing old together. I saw my whole life with you. I'm so glad I met you. Sure, we've faced more obstacles than most couples have. So many, people thought we'd never be here. But the love you and I share, is bigger than anything and everything in this entire universe. It may have been wrong at times, but the feeling just never stopped feeling so right. The last 6 years i've spent with you have been the best, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life by your side. I love you, Aria, and I promise to be your constant friend, your faithful partner and to love you from this day forward, many many years, until I breathe my last breath."_

She slipped on some sweats, along with one of Ezra's T-shirt's, and threw herself on the bed she'd shared with Ezra for the past three years. That bed, which was once full of warmth and comfort, felt so empty and cold without him beside her.

Hugging his pillow close to her, she finally allowed herself to break down completely. She cried like she'd _never_ cried before. It was so hard to breathe, so hard to live with all the pain she was going through. It was only a matter of minutes before the pillow became completely soaked. She didn't know it was possible to cry this much, to _hurt_ this much, but the ongoing tears, and knots in her throat, made her realize it _was_ possible. She knew Ella could hear her from the room next door, but she didn't care. She _couldn't_ care. For the past several hours, after her major breakdown, she'd remained at quiet whimpers, but now, being back at her apartment, where everything around her reminded her of him, she couldn't help but cry.

It just wasn't fair.

Why was he so rudely taken from her? It wasn't fair that his last breath had come just hours after saying his vows.

How was it that the best day of your life, the one day you'd been looking forward to for so long, turned into the worst day possible, just in a mere heartbeat?

How was it possible, to become a wife _and_ a widow, all in the same day?

She went from being a fiance, a wife-to-be, planning her future with him to being a widow. A lone widow. From white to black in a span of hours.

She punched the pillow forcefully. She wasn't sure why, but all she was feeling, she just had to let it out. Punching and crying, she went on until her fists eventually became sore. Her chest heaved, as she rested against the headboard. Bringing her knees up to her chest, she sobbed loudly into them. Why couldn't she stop crying?

Running her trembling hands through her hair, she thought back to something Hanna had mentioned early that morning.

"_You'll make Ezra's heart stop." _Hanna's words were ringing endlessly in her head.

His heart _had_ stopped. Though it wasn't anyone's fault, she _did_ blame herself. Had she known sooner, she would've done _anything_ to try and make him better, though from what she'd gathered, there wasn't anything that could've been done. It didn't matter. She would've found a way to make each and every day she did spend with him extra special.

She just loved him so much. She felt like dying. How would she be able to live without him? Honestly, she didn't know how to breathe without Ezra. She didn't _want_ to live without Ezra.

_Aria sipped on her glass of wine as she sat at their table. She smiled as she glanced around, taking in all her family and friends surrounding her. Her smile grew when her eyes landed on her parents, who stood on the dance floor, slow dancing as they stared into each other's eyes. Even after everything her parents went through, they loved each other, and here they were, almost 25 years later, still full of love._

_She knew that would be her and Ezra in the future. She loved him so much, and she could never ever love anyone else._

_This day couldn't get any better. Everything about it had been perfect, everything she'd ever dreamed of. Her father/daughter dance had been so special, tears had fallen from both her and Byron's eyes._

_And her first dance with Ezra, no words could ever describe how magical it had been. The happy tears had fallen uncontrollably, as she'd remembered their first dance as a couple so many years before._

_Her thoughts were broken when a familiar set of lips kissed her shoulder softly._

_Turning around, she smiled when she saw her husband sitting behind her. She brought his face down to hers and kissed him chastely._

"_Can I have this dance, Mrs. Fitz?" He smiled._

"_Of course."_

_They both made their way onto the dancefloor, and slowly started swaying to the music._

"_Today has been perfect." Aria whispered, looking up at him._

"_It's been more than perfect."_

"_I love you so much, Ezra. So so much."_

"_I love you, too, babe." He cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. It was passionate, yet gentle, Just like many of their kisses were._

_Suddenly, Ezra broke the kiss, collapsing to the floor instantly._

"_Ezra!" Aria panicked, tears brimming her eyes. She stared wide-eyed down at her husband, who was groaning and clutching his chest tightly._

"_Ezra. What's wrong?" She cried. "Somebody please call an ambulance. Please." She glanced around, frantically trying to alert others._

_Her guests had gathered around her. Ella, sitting beside her, attempting to get her to calm down._

"_Babe, please. Please." Aria begged. "You'll be okay. You'll be fine."_

_Aria held him close, whimpering softly. Beneath her, Ezra's body was convulsing in pain, his cries of agony piercing the night air._

"_Please don't leave me."_

_It was only five minutes later when the paramedics had arrived, but to Aria, it seemed like eternity._

_Everything after that was a blur. She had no recollection of how she'd gotten to the hospital._

_Twenty minutes after he collapsed, Aria sat anxiously in the hospital's waiting room. Ella had her arms tightly wrapped around her daughter's small frame, as she watched her cry for the love of her life._

_People passing through the hospital shot them sympathetic smiles, seeing a broken women, in a wedding dress, sitting in the waiting room._

"_Mrs. Fitz?" A doctor called, after what seemed like hours._

_Aria immediately stood up, wiping away the tears._

"_H-how is he? He's okay now, right?"_

_The doctor sighed, as he motioned for her to sit down._

"_His heart was very weak. I'm sorry. We did everything we could. His heart just wasn't strong enough anymore. We tried our best. I am so sorry."_

_Aria didn't hear anything past 'We did everything we could', because in that instant, her whole world crumbled to pieces._

_He went on explaining in detail what was wrong with him, and what had happened, but her brain couldn't process any of it completely. She'd only gotten that Ezra had a heart condition. A heart condition he'd failed to mention. The doctor said his death was bound to happen, not so soon, but in the future, it would happen. Why had it happened so soon? Today of all days?_

_Why had life taken what she loved most?_

_The doctor led her to the room, allowing her to say her final goodbyes. As soon as she saw him, she turned hysterical._

"_Please, Ezra." She sobbed. "Please."_

_She pleaded and pleaded, somehow hoping that what the doctors had said, wasn't true. It just couldn't be true. Her husband couldn't be dead. They were supposed be back at their reception, getting ready to end the night. They were supposed be going back to their apartment together, and anxiously waiting for the start of their honeymoon the following day. She desperately wished for her love to be strong enough to revive him, desperately hoping the doctor was wrong. She clutched Ezra's cold hand in both of hers, bringing it to her lips. _

_Never would she see his gorgeous eyes gaze into hers with love. Never would she feel his warm, strong arms around hers again. Never would she feel his soft touch as he caressed her. Never would she experience a magical kiss with him again._

_They were supposed be together. Love each other. Forever. And now, she'd never be able to love again. _

**_5 years later_**

Bringing out the photo album from her closet, Aria headed back into the living room. Today marked five years. Five years since she'd lost him. Five years since the night that changed her life forever, the night she couldn't seem to forget.

She smiled as she flipped through the pictures, remembering almost every little second of each memory. From her and Ezra getting ready, to the ceremony, and the reception. Her heart squeezed as she stared deeply at the pictures of them slow dancing, and some the photographer got of them sharing a few kisses.

Every year, on the day of what would've been their anniversary, she'd look through the entire album, sometimes, even watch their wedding video. The pain was still there, but slowly, it was becoming easier to handle.

A weight next to her, and a kiss on her cheek, finally caused her to tear her gaze from the photo album.

"I love you."

She smiled, as she returned the kiss.

"I love you, too."

Five years ago, she'd swore she'd never love again. After all, she'd lost the one person she'd ever learned to love.

Five years ago, Ezra was taken from her, torn from her. He'd left her unwillingly, leaving her so heartbroken, she didn't know how she'd be able to live.

But five years ago, Ezra had also left her something. Something that would keep his memory living for many many years. He'd left her something so special, that seven months after his sudden death, turned into a little blessing, a little blue eyed little girl. Her little Briana, who'd just like the meaning of her name said, had given her the fortitude and strength she needed to keep living.

She was wrong many years ago. When she'd said she'd never be able to love again, she was so so wrong.

In a small way she could thank the heart failure. Because it had given her the chance to realize the extent to which she could love. Aria honestly hadn't known that it was possible for her to love someone as deeply as she loved her daughter. She'd loved Ezra unconditionally; She still loved him. But the love for her daughter, was a different kind of love. The kind of love that kept her living since Ezra's death. Briana was her own small miracle.

She missed him everyday, still saw him in everything, most of all her daughter. But there was nothing to do except move on. That was all anyone could do. And she knew that she would eventually be able to fully do so. She was strong in her own little ways, stronger than anyone could ever imagine.

If she could survive that, she could survive anything.

**A/N: Don't hate me...And please review!**


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